Muon Telescope and Detection of Muons in a Cloud Chamber
This project will demonstrate the muon telescope that I developed and was featured in MAKE MAGAZINE Vol 79. It contains 9 pairs of geiger tubes, equally spaced in a semi circle between 0 and 90 degrees to detect muons coming from different areas of the sky. I will also be demonstrating the use of scintillation crystals instead of geiger tubes to photograph muon tracks in a cloud chamber.
The collision of interstellar particles, called primary cosmic rays, with other particles in the Earth's upper atmosphere creates muons and other subatomic particles, called secondary cosmic rays. A muon is one of several elemental particles that are indivisible, the basic building blocks of all mater and are continuously striking the earth. Muons are particularly interesting because they are heavy compared to other cosmic secondary cosmic rays, they travel at about 0.998 times the speed of light and they can penetrate hundreds of feet into the earth. the lifetime of a muon is only about 2.2 microseconds, which is actually not enough time to reach the surface of the Earth from the upper atmosphere. However, at 0.998 times the speed of light, the actual time experienced by a muon increases in accordance with Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity by a process called time dilation. Muons can come from every direction of tye sky, from straight above to horizontal.
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